Surprising Experimental Finding of the Week

Bicycle helmets make you less safe:

"When he wore a helmet, vehicles tended to pass closer than when he did not wear a helmet. Passing drivers may have read th helmet as a sign that there was less risk for the cyclist if they hit him. Or perhaps the helmet dehumanized the rider. Or--and more likely, according to [the researcher]--drivers rea the helmet as a symbol of a more capable and predictable cyclist, one less likely to veer into their path. In either case, the helmet changed the behavior of passing drivers."

That's from Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us).

I'm tempted to try this experiment myself, given how scary it is for cars to pass too close by me on high-speed roads. But I suspect an AK-47 strapped across my back might lead them to give me even more leeway. These are the things I fantasize about as I pedal around the area.

In other news...no, labor hasn't started yet.